


because you looked just like a girl

by springofviolets



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Background shiro/keith - Freeform, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Gen, Implied Veronica/Acxa, Is it still G if there's one curse word, Mistaken Identity, VLD Final Episode What Final Episode | FEWFE, extremely minor season 8 references
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-15
Updated: 2018-12-15
Packaged: 2019-09-18 13:04:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16995519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/springofviolets/pseuds/springofviolets
Summary: Rizavi lets loose what can only be described as a cackle. Her face is lit up with delight. "James, you're sooo pretty!""Great. Thanks," he replies through gritted teeth."Don't be embarrassed," Leifsdottir says. "It's not the first time it's happened to him."





	because you looked just like a girl

**Author's Note:**

  * For [bootyshortskeef](https://archiveofourown.org/users/bootyshortskeef/gifts).



> \- this was written for [mercibeaucul](https://archiveofourown.org/users/mercibeaucul), who wanted a classic "lesbian thinks twink is a butch and hits on him" scenario.  
> \- acxa uses man/male interchangeably and makes some assumptions because she's an alien. please forgive her. she gets the idea with pronouns, tho.  
> \- THANK YOU SEASON 8 for giving me the mfe pilots being casual!!! this is kinda set vaguely in the first few episodes. there are no real spoilers.  
> \- title is from garbage - cherry lips.

Acxa is normally good with remembering names. She always has been, though it became more of a necessary skill when she started the balancing act of serving Haggar and Lotor; names and faces are important when you need to track who's on your side, who's pretending to be on your side, and who can know what your side _is_. Now, though, she finds the amount of names she encounters on a daily basis overwhelming -- at least ten new ones in every meeting, it seems, and humans all have _two names (_ sometimes _three)_ each. It's impossible.

Fortunately, it quickly becomes clear that while she's invited to a number of these meetings out of respect for her being an ally to Voltron and Atlas, she's not truly expected to contribute or remember names.

So she doesn't.

It hasn't been a problem until now, when she's desperately rooting through her own brain trying to recall the name of the woman she saw a glimpse of in their current meeting. Acxa's attention had been immediately drawn by her broad shoulders and dark brown hair with bangs falling over darker eyes. The woman is obscured behind one of the MFE pilots now. Her slender muscles and sharp face flash through Acxa's mind, but not her _name_.

"Romelle," she whispers when they've all taken an unspoken break, a result of Pidge and her dad engaging in a scientific sidebar. "Who is that next to Lance's sister?"

Romelle leans closer to her. "We shouldn't whisper about people who are in the room," she tells Acxa. "It's considered impolite."

Which is odd to her, but Romelle has been very generous and mostly accurate with the knowledge she's shared about Earth human society, and she doesn't look like she's going to say anything else, so Acxa just frowns and crosses her arms.

Romelle seems to take pity on her then, because she adds, "I think perhaps Keith would know, however," and then turns back to Pidge, who has just started addressing the room again.

*

After, she takes Romelle's tip and approaches Keith. He's walking the space wolf, but greets her with a respectful nod, as usual, and then gives her his undivided attention.

When she describes who she's looking for, Keith surprises her with a bark of laughter. "James? I thought… nevermind, not my business. Yeah, you can probably find him with the rest of the MFE pilots," he says.

That gives her pause: she thought humans used _he_ fairly exclusively for the male of the species, and she had pegged James as female. But who is she to judge--perhaps the rule is not as strict as she had previously been led to believe. Galran language traditionally uses the same word for everyone, and there must be intricacies to the human words that she hasn't learned yet.

She's turning words over in her head, trying to formulate how to ask this without causing offense, when Captain Shirogane strides over to them.

His hand immediately gravitates to the small of Keith's back. "Sorry, can I borrow this guy?" he asks her.

Keith grins at him and steals a quick peck from his lips before looking back at her. "Acxa, d'you mind?"

Acxa blinks, struck by the casualness of their affection and address, the informality of displaying it in front of her like she's one of them. "Of course, go ahead," she replies.

Shirogane leads Keith away, and she's left to continue her quest.

*

Now that she knows what to look for, Acxa finds James sitting with MFE group in the mess hall. She fortunately recognizes a few of the others from the time she's spent in the gym.

Rizavi waves her over as soon as they spot each other. "Acxa! Over here!"

Acxa promises herself that this time there will be no emotional disclosures that cause a man as big and straight-faced as Kinkade to sink under the table. It's just hard sometimes--hard to keep the bitterness from creeping into her comments and making her spill too much. But she wants to get along with the humans here, especially since they're making an effort, too, like Veronica, the first to offer her hand in friendship.

As soon as she takes a seat, Rizavi starts talking. "You know Veronica and Ryan, obviously," she chatters. "That's Ina Leifsdottir," she says, pointing at a slender person with short yellow hair, "and that's James Griffin."

Up close, she can see the strong brows that frame James' face, the light freckles on his nose. If Acxa survives the coming battles and was to settle on Earth, then James, with his broad frame and piloting skills, could be a admirable wife. Before she can stop herself, she's leaning closer and saying the first charming words that come to mind:

"James. Are you an alien? Because you are truly out of this world."

(In the immediate silence, when Acxa is congratulating herself on again abandoning all sense of tact and filter that she once was so life-or-death skilled at, one can hear a quiet "Holy shit," from Veronica.

"Hey, that's my pickup line!" Lance shouts somewhere in the background. "That's my line. She took my line, Hunk."

"You got your line from a candy wrapper," Hunk replies.)

Sound comes rushing back, and James stares at her. "No, I'm human. You're the alien." His voice is deeper than she would expect, but not unpleasant.

As for his comment: harsh, but not untrue, Acxa thinks. She doesn't know why she thought that was a good idea. She needs a different tactic.

"I think she's hitting on you," Kinkade says, completely deadpan, but the corner of his mouth is twitching.

Acxa nods, grateful for the rescue, even at the expense of his amusement. "Well, yes. Basically. I am expressing interest, if you're so inclined. I'm not sure Earthlings do it, but Galra appreciate straightforwardness, and I apologize for being unclear before."

James frowns at her, which is not encouraging. "I'm gay," is all he says.

"I'm not familiar with that term," she admits.

"It means a guy into guys," James sighs. "And I have a boyfriend," he adds, nudging Kinkade.

Suddenly a lot of things make sense. "Oh. _Oh_. You're _male_ ," she grimaces. (Even if she wasn't opposed to them in general, she recalls Lotor divulging too much detail about one of his human male lovers, and absolutely nothing about human males sounded the least bit appealing.) "Disregard my previous interest."

Rizavi lets loose what can only be described as a cackle. "Wait a second. Did you think he was a girl?" Her face is lit up with delight. "James, you're _sooo_ pretty!"

"Great. Thanks," he replies through gritted teeth.

"Don't be embarrassed," Leifsdottir says. "It's not the first time it's happened to him."

"Leifsdottir," James warns.

Leifsdottir continues as if she didn't hear him. "Before we got assigned to this team together, our first meeting was actually at a Garrison pride night. We kissed for approximately five seconds before realizing I thought he was a very handsome butch and he thought I was a very delicate twink."

Acxa only understands about half those words, but she thinks she understands. The attempt to pass on the humiliation to another individual is a kind gesture, but she can still feel the heat of her own face and can only hope she isn't flushed too noticeably. That wouldn't do.

"Hey," Veronica says, inching closer to her, laying a hand on her arm. "Why don't you try that line on me instead."

Veronica's expression is genuine, and it seems Acxa has a preference in humans for dark hair with floppy bangs, because she thinks she might do that.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos/comments are loved!
> 
> This story is part of the [LLF Comment Project](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/llfcommentproject) (including the [LLF Comment Builder](https://longlivefeedback.tumblr.com/post/170952243543/now-presenting-the-llf-comment-builder-beta)), which was created to improve communication between readers and authors. This author invites and appreciates feedback, including:
> 
>   * Short comments
>   * Long comments
>   * Questions
>   * “<3” as extra kudos
>   * Reader-reader interaction
> 

> 
> This author responds to comments.
> 
> -
> 
> you can also find me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/springofviolets).


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